"All I can get," he smiles ruefully. "Just keep an eye out for anything that deviates from the checklist and be sure none of the workers are onsite without hardhats."

He pauses for a moment. "Our boss doesn't care, but their boss's insurance rates will triple if anybody catches any of his workers without hardhats."

Ask about the project

"The project? Everything's behind schedule and nothing works right, but this isn't my first Cyberbowl."

He pauses for a moment and clarifies. "That's just always how it is. The architect keeps changing the blueprints. The drones don't work. The workers don't work. Can't keep their hats on and their Metros Light at home."

"So, the fact that we're making progress at all is a minor miracle."

Ask about the architect

"Well, you know how architects are. It's never smooth sailing.

He shakes his head as though trying to dislodge irritating memories. "But this lady is in a breed by herself. Draws this building that nobody could build, looks like something growing in my bathtub. Refuses to visit the site while we have Midgard drones here. And looks at you like… she's crazy. That's the worst part, I think."

"Don't tell the boss. She and the architect have some sort of thing. I don't know if they're sleeping together or just the same kind of crazy."

He pauses for a beat and his lips twitch with the hint of a conspiratorial smile. "Don't tell the boss that either."

Ask about the drones

He makes a dismissive gesture with one hand. "If it's not one thing, it's another. We're moving enough earth we need one of the old OmniTech BigDigs, but they upgraded the software on them. So it's broken and I can barely use my comm to send mail, so I'm certainly not fixing it."

"We get in some little Midgard numbers, but the workers' boss hates 'em because he's on contract with OmniTech to use their stuff. And our boss hates 'em because the architect has some weird Midgard drone phobia."

"Should just fire her. I've never seen so many changes of plans in one project. We'd be months behind even if all the drones were up."